End of Year Rankings

New “end of year” rankings are now available following the recent National Singles and the University Championships (held end of November). As expected, following his narrow victory to win the Jesters Club Cup, Will Ellison takes over from Dan Tristao at the top of the Singles. The National Singles carries more ranking points than any other event and so there are usually some interesting changes following this event, and this year is no exception.

As reported elsewhere, the amazing Singles Final between Will Ellison and Dan Tristao was admired by all spectators, and the closeness of the match is reflected nicely by the closeness of these two players at the top of the Singles Rankings. Below them by some margin, the two losing semi-finalists, Dan Grant and Ed Kay, cement their positions at Nos. 3 and 4, with Ed also picking up points as University Champion. At Nos. 5 and 6, Matt Cavanagh and Ben Beltrami benefit from James Toop’s absence from recent competitive fives, while Quarter Finalist Julian Aquilina makes an entry into the top 10 for the first time.

Further down the list, after a run of very good results including winning the Plate, Ollie Arnold moves right up to No. 12, while Andrew Boyd (Plate Runner-Up), Peter Hanton (who qualified in a very strong London group), and Henry Jefferies (another National Singles Qualifier), all enter the top 20. In particular, Andrew (from Edinburgh Academy) is to be congratulated in making the transition to the Senior game amazingly quickly! We have 3 new Singles entries, Tom Watkinson (University Quarter Finalist) at No. 35, and further down, Rob Whitehorn and John Sellar who both had good wins in their National Qualifier events. Francis Thomas, another University Quarter Finalist, also makes good upward progress to No. 38.

This Doubles Rankings update only takes account of the University Doubles. This event does not carry a large number of ranking points, since it is not an open event, so the changes in the list are not substantial. Dan Tristao remains at No. 1 while Will Ellison is very close behind at No. 2. However, Matt Shaw who won the University Doubles with Ben Beltrami moves into the top 10 at No. 9, and Oli Quarry (semi finalist with Ed Kay) and Ben Ashraf (Plate Winner with Adam Wordley) are both high risers to Nos. 48 and 64 respectively. In addition to Adam Wordley, we have 5 other new entries, Sid Bhushan, Zac Jopling, Bertie Mills, Matt Nunes, and Nick Whitney, all of whom made the University Quarter Finals.

The annual trip north of the border will include matches at Fettes, Edinburgh Academy, Merchiston Castle and Loretto – as well as plenty of socialising!

RFA Archive

The RFA has an extensive archive of materials, currently in the care of our Archivist, David Barnes. The Archive consists of a large collection of documents, photographs and memorabilia relating to the history of Rugby Fives. It is our intention to place a great deal of this archive online in due course. Click here